Canadian Hunt for Seal Pups Draws International Criticism

Canada has allowed nearly a million seals to be killed over the past three
years, the largest hunt of marine mammals in the world. This year’s government
quota is 325,000 seals, one of the highest since the hunt began.

Canada’s seal hunt occurs annually, in the spring, when hundreds of thousands
of seal pups are killed during several days of intense hunting.

The hunt draws international criticism due to its brutality and waste. Seals
are hunted primarily for their pelts, which are used in the fashion industry.

This is a hunt for seal pups. Last year, according to statistics provided by
the Canadian government, 329,829 seals were killed, and 98% of them were less
than 3 months old. Experts agree that the size of the hunt coupled with
environmental uncertainty due to climate change is putting the harp seal
population at serious risk.

“This is a cruel hunt for products that nobody needs,” said Fred O’Regan,
IFAW’s president and CEO. “Canada is better than this. It’s time for the new
Canadian government to shut down the seal hunt.”

Each spring the entire Northwest Atlantic harp seal population migrates to
the East Coast of Newfoundland to mate, give birth and nurse their young. In one
of nature’s great wildlife spectacles, thousands of seals are born on the
pristine ice floes off eastern Canada in early March.

The hunt normally begins in late March when the seal pups are weaned from
their mothers and have started to moult. Seal pups may be legally killed
as soon as they begin to moult their fluffy white natal coats, usually at about
14 days old.

The international community is appalled by the cruelty of Canada’s baby seal
hunt. This year Italy and Mexico passed legislation to ban the importation of
seal products. Belgium, UK and the Netherlands are all considering legislation
to ban seal products. The U.S. also prohibits the importation of seal products.